Sabbath School

A number of years ago, I sat glued to my television as two stories of human tragedy were unfolded during a morning chat show. A woman recounted how her child was murdered and described the personal devastation that followed. Twenty years later, she was increasingly consumed with anger and bitterness and forced to rely on sleeping tablets.

The main reason my wife and I recently moved from the East Coast back to the West Coast was to be near our children, and especially our young granddaughter. I am hoping that as she grows more comfortable being around me, I can tell her some stories that will rival her current interest in, and love for, Disney's Frozen.

Our saviour’s miracles were intended for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet one, like a crumb, fell from the table to a woman of Canaan; so this one miracle Elisha wrought for Naaman, a Syrian; for God does good to all, and will have all men to be saved. Here is,

In our time, authenticity, spontaneity, and feelings have somewhat displaced more objective values such as duty, consistency, and discipline. As I see it, the subjective currently enjoys a kind of monopoly in our culture: objective points of reference remain (especially when we need statistics and ‘studies’ to enforce our subjective preferences) but we all tend to favor the self over appeals to principle, wise tradition, or just plain duty and time-honored custom.

One of the scripture passages for this week’s lesson is the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 6:25-37), one of the most iconic stories in the Bible. The expression “Good Samaritan” is indeed proverbial, in that even people who have never heard the story, much less read the Bible, know what it means: someone who goes out on a limb to help someone else, often a stranger.